1 Cor 15:22 For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. Rom 6:3 Or are you ignorant that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?
Although we were born in the first person, Adam, we have been baptized into the second person, Christ. How pitiful it is for Christians to argue about the outward form of baptism! Some dispute about the kind of water used, and some argue about the method of baptism. Baptism means to be put into Christ and into His death. Whether we were good or bad, we were born in Adam. Now we see another man, Christ. How can we get into Him and be a part of Him? The way is to be baptized into Christ. The meaning of baptism is to put people into Christ. It is not a ritual or a form; it is an extremely significant experience. How people have missed the mark regarding baptism in their divisive arguments about forms and methods! Whenever we baptize people, we only care that we put them into Christ. It is awful to perpetuate a ritual, but it is wonderful to baptize people into Christ. Although we were born in Adam, by baptism we have been identified with Christ in His death and resurrection. Through death and resurrection Christ was transfigured from the flesh into the Spirit. Likewise, through identification with Christ in His death and resurrection, we have been transferred out of Adam and into Christ. When we were baptized into Christ, we were transferred from being a part of Adam into being a part of Christ. Now we are no longer in Adam. We are absolutely in Christ.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee. Life-study of Romans, pp. 132. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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